What's new

Summer 2008

A shrine to the Harley: The new Harley-Davidson Museum is opening July 12-13 in Milwaukee. Tickets are $16, $12 for students and $10 for children 5-17. They're available on-line, but not for the 105th anniversary celebration Aug. 28-31, for which tickets were distributed by lottery.

The museum is in the southeast corner of the junction of U.S. 43 and 794, on the Menominee River in a warehouse-rail district just south of downtown. It has a restaurant, gift shops, special-events space and a gathering area for up to 15,000 riders.

Across the South Sixth Street bridge, the 102-room Iron Horse boutique hotel will open later this summer in a renovated warehouse. The hotel has a covered parking area for motorcycles, rag bins, an on-site bike wash, packed saddle bag lunches, road trip maps and in-room storage areas for boots, helmets and heavy riding leathers. It also accepts dogs of all sizes, 888-543-4766.

A find in Viroqua: In Wisconsin's coulee country southeast of La Crosse, Vernon County always has been a kind of Shangri-La. Norwegians and freed slaves settled on its ridges and in its deep valleys; then came the Amish, followed by artists, organic farmers and urban escapees.

It's a fantastic place to visit. Yet it never had a cool place to eat — until now.

In June, I discovered Chilito Lindo, a wonderfully authentic Mexican cafe in the middle of dairyland. It's on the south edge of Viroqua, a drive-in strung with festive strings of paper cut-outs and big picture windows so clear I thought I was sitting outside.

Chef Ted Parrish (formerly of Chicago) made me pork carnitas grilled with onions and served with cilantro, pineapple and lime. For dessert, server Kady Fox (formerly of Milwaukee) brought me homemade flan and a cup of really good Kickapoo coffee.

"The Mexicans like the food, and that's usually a good sign,'' she said.

In the evening, get a margarita and linger on the oilcloth-covered banquettes or hot-pink picnic tables outside; the music is really good, too. It's closed Sunday.

Also in Viroqua, check out Sibby's in the Viroqua Public Market downtown, which serves homemade organic soft-serve ice cream. Sadly, I hit it on a Monday, when it's closed.

A brewery in Potosi: There's a new stop to add to the beer-lover's tour of southern Wisconsin (See True Brew).

The Potosi Brewing Co. reopened in June. Started in 1852, the brewery in the far southwest corner of Wisconsin became the fifth-largest brewery in Wisconsin, in later years producing Holiday, Garten Bräu and Alpine Lager until closing in 1972.

Now run by a foundation, the restored brewery includes the American Breweriana Association's National Brewery Museum, the Potosi Brewing Co. Transportation Museum and the Great River Road Interpretive Center.

The interpretive center really is just a rack of brochures, and the National Brewery Museum, which charges $7 admission, mostly is a collection of brewing memorabilia. The Transportation Museum is just one room but interesting, considering it's only about Potosi.

The real news is they're making beer again. At first, only the Good Old Potosi was on tap. It's a farmhouse ale that tastes much like New Glarus Brewing's Spotted Cow, one of the few craft beers that has crossed over to the mainstream. But brewmaster Steve Zuidema, a Davenport restaurateur, also planned to produce Holiday bock, Snake Hollow India pale ale, Potosi Pure Malt Cave Ale and Potosi Steamer Hefe Weiss.

There's a handsome new restaurant and a pretty beer garden, with a small stage for live music. If you're in the vicinity — heading for Dubuque or Galena or along the Great River Road — check it out.

Ely pups named: The wolf pups at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minn., have new names: Aidan and Denali. The public named the pups by observing their personalities through a web cam after their public presentation May 25; the pup that the wolf center staff had nicknamed Attila got the name Aidan, which can be translated from Gaelic as "little fiery one'' (Denali had been nicknamed Red Paw).

The pups were born April 27 at the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn., and both are males. For now, they live in a pup nursery, tended by human nannies, but interact with the rest of the pack through a chain-link fence and by howling at the exhibit pack, Maya, Grizzer, Malik and Shadow. Lakota is retired and lives in a separate enclosure. McKenzie, who also was retired, died in her sleep May 21 at age 15.

The pups will join the exhibit pack in August. Pup curator Lori Schmidt records their progress on on-line logs. The pups are introduced daily at the center during half-hour Pup 101 programs, 11 a.m. and 1 and 3 p.m.

Civil War Museum opens in Kenosha: In the southeast corner of Wisconsin, a brand-new museum opened June 14 on the shore of Lake Michigan.

The museum  tells stories from the home front as well as the front lines; exhibits in the 57,000-square-foot museum include the contents of the Maple Leaf, a Union transport boat sunk by a Confederate torpedo in Florida's St. Johns River and rediscovered in 1984. 262-653-4140, www.thecivilwarmuseum.org.

A new restaurant in Wabasha, Minn.: Check out Vinifera, which has opened in the riverfront space once occupied by Nosh, the fine-dining outpost that decamped to Lake City a year ago.

Michael Murray-John, most recently chef at Seven Pines Lodge in western Wisconsin, is featuring a wine bar and a retail shop in which guests can purchase bottles and consume them on the spot with small plates of Mediterranean comfort food — coq au vin, braised lamb shanks, steamed mussels — selling for $6-$15.

Vinifera (pronounced Vi-NIF-era) is on Main Street in the shadow of the Mississippi River bridge. In nice weather, try out its new patio. It's open for lunch and dinner Wednesday-Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reserve at 1-651-565-4171.

Vinifera's patio has a view of the bridge, but condos block its view of the river. Two other places on the next block do have a very nice view of the river from their common deck: Flour Mill Pizzeria, which serves beer and wine, soups and salads and a nice thin-crust pie; and Chocolate Escape's Espresso Shop, which serves coffee and smoothies.

Spring deals in the Dells: In summer, Wisconsin Dells hotels command big bucks for access to their outdoor water parks. Rates also rise on winter weekends and during spring break, when a visit to an indoor water park serves as warm-weather vacation for many people.

But in April and May, when spring break is over and most people are dying to get outdoors, the biggest hotels have a lot of empty rooms, and prices plummet.

If you've ever wanted to see what the fuss is about, now is a good time to go. The Wilderness Resort is offering a $99 rate on weekdays through May and on three Fridays, May 9, 16 and 30. On those same weekends in May, a Friday-Saturday stay is $215.

Great Wolf Lodge is offering rates of $129 through May 22. The Kalahari has a $199 deal that includes a $50 spa credit and a $50 gift card to the Tanger Outlet Mall.

Rates are good for up to four people. As always, the cheapest rooms go first. Check web sites for details and additional specials. For more on the Dells' indoor water parks, see Making waves.

Madison by Megabus: The fast-growing, low-cost Megabus has added Madison to its schedule, and tickets are going fast.

Megabus also has increased its reservation window from 45 days to five months, meaning only travelers who can plan ahead are likely to snare the $1 fares for which Megabus is famous. As of April 8, tickets for a Memorial Day weekend trip from Minneapolis to Madison were selling for $76, unless a traveler wants to leave on Saturday instead of Friday, which lowers the fare to $47.

A Labor Day weekend trip was selling for $28, or only $13 if a traveler is willing to take the red-eye trip.

The motorcoaches leave downtown Minneapolis at noon and the University of Minnesota at 12:15 p.m., arriving at 5 p.m. at the Dutch Mill Park and Ride at the intersection of U.S. 51 and 12/18, in the far southeast corner of the Madison area.

From Madison, they leave at 2:30 p.m., arriving in Minneapolis at 7:15 p.m.

On the overnight trip, fares tend to be much cheaper. It leaves Minneapolis at 10:30 and 10:45 p.m. and arrives in Madison at 3:30 a.m.; from Madison, buses leave at 1 a.m., arriving in downtown Minneapolis at 6:30 a.m.

For details, see Taking the bus.

Flying to Chicago: Expect air fares from the Twin Cities to Chicago to rise in May, when AirTran will drop its daily flights to Midway. Weekenders have loved the flights, which often cost as little as $99, and through-passengers also benefited because they could connect to AirTran's low-cost flights to the East Coast. Fares still are low (Northwest has been matching or surpassing AirTran fares), so book now.

People who live in and around Milwaukee are luckier; in May, AirTran is adding non-stops to many destinations, including Seattle, San Francisco, Boston and New York.

Reserving campsites in Minnesota: People who count on reserving their favorite campsites in Minnesota state parks will have to start planning ahead. Starting June 2, reservations can be made up to a year in advance.

Tickets for sale at Big Top Chautauqua: The folks who put on shows under the blue-green tent in Bayfield, Wis., have announced their August shows. Tickets go fast, and many shows sell out.

Performers include Arlo Guthrie, Aug. 1, with tickets going for $35-$65; the Wailin' Jennys, Aug. 2, $18-$28; Garrison Keillor (two shows), Aug. 10, $35-$65; Three Dog Night, Aug. 15, $40-$75; and Iris DeMent, Aug. 30, $20-$30. Call 888-244-8368, www.bigtop.org.

Tall ships for Duluth: Tourists who love boat-watching in Duluth have a new date to put on their calendars: July 31 through Aug. 4, when three tall ships will come to anchor the new Duluth Maritime Festival.

When the Brig Niagara came to Duluth in 2002 (see a slide show at Duluth Shipping News), says Visit Duluth director Gene Shaw, 10,000 people came to see it and stood in long lines for tickets to tour it. This year, he expects 30,000 people to visit the Madeline, a replica of an 1840s schooner, and the Niagara and Pride of Baltimore II, replicas of War of 1812 battleships. This time, tickets for Aug. 1-3 tours will be sold in advance through DECC, starting April 14.

Schooners like the Madeline, built by maritime buffs in Traverse City, Mich., were the first workhorses of the Great Lakes, carrying cargoes of logs, fish and sandstone to Eastern ports. During the festival, the tall-masted ships will arrive alongside their successors, the ore and grain freighters tourists also love to watch.

"Everybody's enthused about ships here in Duluth,'' Shaw says. "And the sailing ships have so much history and mystique to them.''  For details, see www.visitduluth.com/maritimefestival.

An honor for Red Wing: For the first time, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has chosen a Minnesota town as one of its "Dozen Distinctive Destinations.''

It's a belated 150th-birthday present for the Mississippi River town of Red Wing, which was one of the first to grasp the tourism benefits of restoring historic old buildings, including the 1875 St. James Hotel, renovated in 1977, and the 1904 Sheldon Theatre, renovated in 1988. Twenty-three other buildings also are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"This is a city that knows history matters," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Chippewa Falls, Wis., was among the first dozen singled out by the National Trust in 2000, along with the Lake Michigan resort town of Petoskey, Mich. The southeast Iowa village of Bonaparte, Iowa, was chosen in 2001, the Lake Michigan town of Holland, Mich., in 2002, and Mackinac Island in 2003.

In 2004, the northwest Illinois boutique town Galena was chosen, and in 2005, its neighbor across the border, Dubuque, was chosen along with Oak Park, Ill., home of the Frank Lloyd Wright legacy. Milwaukee was chosen in 2006, and in 2007, the lovely southwest Wisconsin town of Mineral Point got the honor. For details, visit www.nationaltrust.org.

Marquette one of world's best?: Obviously, everyone loves a "best'' list. Budget Travel magazine is listing the Marquette Hotel in downtown Minneapolis as one of its Top 100 Best Values around the world, along with the Sheraton in West Des Moines.

Huh? The magazine says its goal was to "pinpoint the world's most reliable hotels with an average nightly rate of $250 or less (and this is BUDGET Travel magazine?), and winners were selected based on TripAdvisor's Popularity Index. The magazine includes quotes from TripAdvisor reviews; for the Hilton-owned Marquette, it was "The front-desk attendant even lent me his personal cell-phone charger.''

Hmmm. Is a franchise hotel in Minneapolis really one of Top 100 in the world? At Yahoo! Travel, the Marquette is rated No. 5 in Minneapolis, after the Marriott, Graves 601, Grand Hotel and Hilton; the last guest to post gave it three out of five stars because he was hit with a $50 early-departure fee. At TravelPost.Com, the Marquette is rated 5.9 out of 10.

Ratings that claim to pinpoint the Top anything always are a little suspect (See Chasing the Top 10.) My recommendation: Take it with a grain of salt. For details on the story, see www.budgettravel.com.

Travel to Canada: Many people have been confused about travel to Canada. You do have to have to a passport to fly there (or, more accurately, to return), but not to drive over the border.

That changed Jan. 31. Now all U.S. citizens, including children, must present a birth certificate or passport when returning from Canada. If you don't have proper documentation when you arrive at the border, Canadian officials will turn you back.

The departments of State and Homeland Security planned to require passports for land and water entries as well as air entries by next summer, but Congress put a provision delaying implementation into the spending bill President Bush signed Dec. 19, 2007. People now have until June 1, 2009, but judging by the three months it took to get a passport last spring, it may be wise to avoid another last-minute crush.

"If there's any possibility of leaving the country at all, just get the passport,'' says Susan Worwa, communications manager for Edina-based MLT Vacations, which began alerting customers to the 2007 air-entry change  in the summer of 2006 but still found many caught by surprise.

Passports are expensive, however: $97, $82 for children younger than 16. People who need a certified copy of a birth certificate can get one for $16 if they were born in Minnesota, 651-201-5970, www.health.state.mn.us. Still, everyone's going to need one eventually. Adult passports are good for 10 years; passports issued to youths 15 or younger are good for five years. For the latest details on passport requirements, check travel.state.gov.

There are two others issues to deal with regarding travel to Canada. In September, the Canadian loonie hit parity with the U.S. dollar for the first time since 1976. Only  five years ago, when the loonie was worth 62 cents, a trip across the border was a lark. But now that it's worth $1, the party's over.

"Thunder Bay has fabulous restaurants, and we'd run up for dinner and a little shopping,'' says Mike Raymond, a Grand Marais real-estate broker who lives near Hovland, Minn. "Now we don't go up unless it's a special occasion, and we used to make it a special occasion all the time.''

The beefed-up U.S. border patrol also puts a damper on the excursions, Raymond says. Often, they'll ask him questions and go through shopping bags.

"It used to be that you knew the guy; it was Joe,'' he said. "If you'd seen a movie, he'd say, 'What'd you see?' Now they don't know you from Adam. They give you the third degree and pop the hood. A lot of people don't like that. It's all having an effect.''

Unlike Europe, however, where the Euro was worth nearly $1.50 in November, Canada won't seem expensive to U.S. travelers. A meal at Thunder Bay's top-notch Bistro One or a night at the White Fox Inn cost about they would at similar places in the United States. And a walk-up lift ticket at the Loch Lomond ski area is $39, $15 less than one at Lutsen.

Bennett's closed, Midi and 301 open: In the Fitger's complex in Duluth, Bennett's on the Lake has been replaced by Midi Restaurant & Wine Bar, serving a Mediterranean-Asian-continental menu featuring such dishes as Provencal seafood stew, $16, and sesame-crusted ahi tuna with wasabi cream and risotto cakes, $15. Check it out at www.midirestaurant.net.

Longtime chef Bob Bennett tired of running his own restaurant and now is chef at the 301 Sheraton by Bob Bennett at the new Sheraton Duluth downtown on Superior Street, 218-733-5660, www.sheraton.com/duluth.

Midi will cater the dinner theaters staged in Fitger's by Change of Pace Productions. For tickets, call 218-525-2045, www.fitgers.com/events.

Intrigue on Isle Royale

Mystery fans' favorite national-park ranger, Anna Pigeon, has returned to Lake Superior's Isle Royale National Park.

The first time she was there, she called the wilderness island "hypothermia country'' — and that was summer. Now, in Nevada Barr's new "Winter Study,'' the sharp-tongued ranger is spending her winter studying dwindling numbers of wolves and moose. There's a mysterious death, of course, in which wolves figure prominently.

Barr's timing is good: The famous moose-wolf study, conducted by researchers from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. This year's study, expected soon, is not expected to bear good news for wildlife devotees.

Barr's new book comes out April 1, and her first tour stop is April 2 at the Barnes and Noble in the Twin Cities suburb of Edina. In the book, real-life researcher Rolf Peterson has retired, and researchers are joined by an official of the Department of Homeland Security, which wants to keep the park open year-round to protect the U.S. border from terrorists. That, however, would shut down the study (Read the first chapter).

Expect other real-life characters to be featured. Barr's other book about Isle Royale, 1994's "Superior Death'' featured a real shipwreck with real bodies, a real would-be cannibal and characters modeled on real park-service employees.

Interest is keen: As of March 13, there were 57 requests for the book at Minneapolis libraries.

But the researchers' work also makes compelling reading. Around 1900, moose migrated from Minnesota and were free of predators for nearly 50 years, until Lake Superior froze and a pair of wolves scampered over. Their study has chronicled the relationship between predator and prey.

"I read some of these reports about wolf and moose dynamics and they're chilling; it raises the hair on my neck sometimes,'' says Marcia Goodrich, publicist for Michigan Tech.

The populations have seesawed back and forth, but now, global warming has entered the equation. The heat-sensitive moose are dwindling, providing less food for wolves. Warmer summers have stressed the shaggy, 1,000-pound animals and stopped them from eating as much food as they need to survive the winter. A burgeoning population of winter ticks has latched onto the moose by the tens of thousands, weakening them through blood loss and by distracting them from eating. And there are fewer balsam firs, their preferred food.

In 2002, there were more than 1,000 moose on the island; last year, there was a record low of 385. Wolves hit a high of 50 in 1980; last year, they were down to 21 from 30.

However, researchers found on this year's study that a new pack had formed. Read their fascinating field notes at www.isleroyalewolf.org.

For more on visiting Isle Royale, see Isle Royale reverie.

Writer Barr, now living in New Orleans, is writing a blog about her new book. The first issue she addressed was about the increasing violence in her books, especially her previous book, "Hard Truth,'' which involved children camping in Rocky Mountains National Park.

"Though ("Winter Study'') is harsh, I promise you only the truly vile and odious suffer the extremes of my inner evil,'' she wrote in a March 11 entry.

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